The Association between Various Shared Activities and the Quality of Parent-Child Relationships.

DiBlassio, Jamie; Calore, Kristen; Chambliss, Catherine

This study examined the association between various shared activities and the quality of parent-child relationships. Participating in the study were 211 undergraduate students attending a small liberal arts college. They completed a questionnaire in which they rated the quality of their relationship with their parents, the amount of contact they had with their parents, and the activities shared with mothers and with fathers when the participants were young children. A summary score for quality of relationship with mother and a separate score for quality of relationship with father were calculated. Median splits were performed on both summary scores, distinguishing between those with high quality relationships and those with low quality relationships with each of their parents. T-tests were performed to compare these two groups in terms of involvement in 22 shared activities between parents and children, such as driving to lessons, watching sports, putting child to bed, watching television, doing homework, exercising, cooking, vacationing, eating breakfast, eating dinner, participating in holiday events, and gardening. The findings indicated that there were significant differences between the two groups on almost all the scores for shared activities with the mother (except camping) and the father (except going to museums and zoos). The results offer strong support for the idea that shared activities with young children are associated with more positive relationships with parents during late adolescence and early adulthood. The type of shared activity did not seem to matter. (KB)